Get in touch with a representative from Lax Playground!

Former Orangeman Explains Why the Recent 'Ship Rings Take The Cake

The Syracuse lacrosse team was honored this past weekend receiving their championship rings after a great run last spring. Winning championships is nothing new to the Orange; however, LPG noticed something different about the configuration of the rings from years past. LPG also gets an in depth analysis from former Orangemen John Wright(’04) about the special meaning behind each ring.

Taking a look at the ring from 2004 you will notice a few items that are missing from the recent rings. A four year starter on defense and ‘Cuse captain from the ’04 team, John Wright, explains the significance of his class ring.

Notice the SU on the front. SU is now outdated. “They got rid of it because people thought it looked like SJ and didn’t know what it stood for,” John Wright exclaims. “We were the first team to wear the logo in competition during that championship weekend. The ring used to have black antiquing behind the SU but I had it removed because it was caked on there and looked awful. Some people had diamonds put in there but that’s not my style.”

On one side it has the players last names, numbers and the team motto from that season: Head, Heart, Hustle.

Having the team motto etched on one side, as one can imagine, holds special meaning to the members of that team. On the contrary Wright states that the record (15-2) is what truly stands out. “Roy Simmons Jr. presented us with the rings and said the most important number on there was the 2 for our two losses because it signifies the adversity that we overcame in order to win.”

Most of the other Syracuse Championship rings have very subtle designs. Some of them were just gold bands with “National Champions” etched in.

As you can tell, the 2009 championship ring has diamonds in the middle , surrounding the orange S(sans U). Along the front of the ring there are four diamonds, two on each side, in between the National Championship writing. On the right side of the ring, it has the players name, number and on the other side it has 2 national championship trophy’s, for the back to back titles. Wright believes “the 2004 ring is definitely the biggest of the bunch(11 rings total) but the rings they received for the past two years take the cake!”

Which attributes of the rings stand out most to you? Post a comment below.